World Series: Sandoval homers three times as Giants romp

Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth inning during Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.DOUG PENSINGER, GETTY IMAGES

SAN FRANCISCO – Normally the game plan against a team's hottest hitter is to not throw him anything over the plate.

Except that doesn't work with Pablo Sandoval right now.

The San Francisco Giants' beefy third baseman pulled himself into the history books with a jaw-dropping demonstration that there aren't many pitches — or pitchers — he can't handle.

"I don't think there are many players who can hit a ball out of the strike zone the way he can," Giants catcher Buster Posey said, marveling.

Sandoval joined a select, impressive club when he became the fourth player to hit three homers in a World Series game, powering his team to an 8-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night at AT&T Park.

You can now add Sandoval to a list that includes Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols. No one else has hit three homers in a World Series game. Ruth did it twice.

Not that you need any more superlatives than that, but Sandoval did it by hitting two homers against the supposedly unhittable Justin Verlander, the reigning Cy Young winner. Verlander came into the game with an 0.74 ERA in his first three postseason starts this year, and he was the main reason the Tigers were favored in the series.

"You are taking a guy deep who is the best on the planet right now," Giants veteran Aubrey Huff said. "Not only did he take him deep, but they were great pitches. ... You never know what to expect in baseball. You think you've seen it all. I've seen guys hit three home runs, but to see it in the World Series? You can't even believe it happened until you get in the clubhouse."

Sandoval could hardly believe it either. As he stood at his locker, beaming amid a thicket of microphones and notebooks, he seemed to still be in shock.

"Three home runs in the World Series?" he said. "It's too much for me."

Sandoval's historic night began in the first inning, when Verlander got ahead of him, 0-2, and fired a 95 mph fastball above the strike zone. It wasn't a strike, but it wasn't up quite as much as Verlander wanted, and Sandoval hammered it just over the center-field fence. It was only the sixth time in Verlander's career, including the postseason, that he'd allowed a homer on an 0-2 pitch.

In the third, Verlander had given up a second run on back-to-back two-out hits, including one that bounced off the third base bag, when pitching coach Jeff Jones came to the mound and Verlander dismissed him. Three pitches after that, Verlander threw a 2-0 fastball on the outside corner and Sandoval hit the other way, over the left-field fence, to put the Giants up, 4-0.

Two innings later, Verlander was gone, and Sandoval got to tee off on right-handed reliever Al Alburquerque. He threw a slider down and in, and Sandoval again hit it over the fence in center.

"When he hit his third, we were just going nuts," Giants lefty Barry Zito said. "We've seen a lot of stuff from Pablo. I can remember a couple sliders that he hit in the water that were just ridiculous, so it's kind of hard to impress us with what we've seen, but we were all very impressed tonight."

Sandoval got a shot to become the first player to ever hit four homers in a World Series game. Of the previous four times a player hit three, only once did he even get a shot at four. Ruth walked in his final plate appearance when he came up with three homers in 1926.

Even better for Sandoval, he got to hit against struggling Tigers closer Jose Valverde, who was working mop-up duty to iron out some kinks. Sandoval lined a single into left field.

So he'll have to be content with simply being tied with Ruth, Jackson and Pujols, two players who are in the Hall of Fame and a future first-ballot inductee.

"It's exciting to be part of history," said Sandoval, whose bat is headed to Cooperstown. "It's one of those things you will never forget."

Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers in the fifth inning during Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night. DOUG PENSINGER, GETTY IMAGES
The Giants' Pablo Sandoval (48) approaches first base after hitting his second home run, a two-run shot in the third inning against the Detroit Tigers. PAUL KITAGAKI JR., MCT
The San Francisco Giants' Pablo Sandoval hits a home run during the first inning of Game 1 of baseball's World Series against the Detroit Tigers. DAVID J. PHILLIP, AP
Detroit Tigers starter Justin Verlander tries to regroup on the mound after Giant pitcher Barry Zito hit a RBI single to left field in the fourth inning. DOUG PENSINGER, GETTY IMAGES
Giants starting pitcher Barry Zito throws against the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series at AT&T Park. PAUL KITAGAKI JR., MCT
The Giants' Pablo Sandoval rounds the bases after belting a two-run home run to left field in the third inning during Game 1 of the World Series. DOUG PENSINGER, GETTY IMAGES

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